A documentary about removing stigma for people with addictions has been a talk of the town. Producer and director Greg Williams, a 30-year-old Danbury resident, started the film The Anonymous People on Kickstarter. He is in long-term recovery from drugs and alcohol since age 17.

The Anonymous People sheds light on one of the biggest stigma in American society and the group of people living behind, as part of the emerging Addiction Recovery Advocacy Movement. The film was shot in prisons, statehouses, town hall forums, high school gymnasiums and recovery centers across the country. The interview subjects include actress Kristen Johnston, former U.S. Reps. Patrick Kennedy and Jim Ramstad, former Miss U.S.A. Tara Conner and former NBA star Chris Herren. All in recovery.

The film will be screened at the Maxx from 6 to 8 pm on Mar. 30 in New Milford with Williams in attendance. DVDs and more screening events are available on manyfaces1voice.org.

Register Citizen(RC): Why did you make this film?

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Williams: Because I am a person in recovery and I stumbled on this movement of people who are willing to go public about their recovery and offer solutions to the addiction epidemic. Their stories are powerful, so I felt a call to capture their stories in this project to bring a different perspectives to addiction that have never done before in the media.

RC: Why did you want people to know about people in recovery?

Williams: You have about two thirds of people and their families who have been impacted by addiction. It’s a leading cause of death right now. Part of the problem why it’s a leading cause of death and why we don’t fund this issue like a health issue and why we don’t support the people with addiction in the way we should, is because of the stigma and discrimination. People don’t think people will get better from addiction. We need to build recovery support in the community like diabetes, asthma, heart disease, support for people with chronic condition.

RC: What are the misunderstandings the public have towards people in recovery?

Williams: That we don’t exist, we don’t get well. Most people in recovery are tax paying and are employable, incredible assets to the community. They don’t crash cars any more, they don’t end up in the emergency room. So my recovery is incredibly valuable to the community regardless of what you think about people with addiction.

RC: Do you think social pressure is necessary to deter people from becoming addicted?

Williams: We tried that for 120 years, and it hasn’t worked. It’s complicated, but people have looked at it from a very simple lens. “Oh, if they never use drugs or alcohol, they’ll never become addicted.” That’s not the case for a great number of people. Like diabetes, some people can eat cakes, but some can’t. Some people might be able use other drugs, and others can not. We haven’t looked at it in a more nuanced perspective, it’s been all or nothing kind of response. You chose to do this and that’s what happened. That’s not the fact. The fact is out of 10 people who drink alcohol, one would become an alcoholic. Period. It’s scientifically proven. The reason why we have this misunderstanding and approach to addiction is education, empowerment and empathy. Those are people who suffer addiction. They are not the other people. We allow ourselves to get categorized in that largely because we have been invisible in the recovery movement.

RC: Many people think addiction is a disease of choice.

Williams: It doesn’t matter. We don’t need to debate that. Some people believe that about diabetes. Some people believe that about heart disease. We still give them the same kind of support. People can’t blame or shame people who haven’t yet changed their behaviors, but just wrapping their arms around this. This isn’t that much different from the way we deal with other public health issues. The biggest choice of healthcare is personal choice and patient compliance. That’s the lens that needs to shift for people.

RC: Why is there such a big problem of addiction in America?

Williams: Part of it is we sell addiction. The media sell addiction. Pharmaceutical companies sell addiction. Alcohol industry sells addiction. We have a marijuana industry emerging selling addiction. It’s very profitable for the industries to have an addiction remain as the status quo. Changes are only coming from the grassroots. We are going to prove to people recovery is more profitable than addiction.

RC: Why are people so afraid of talking about this subject?

Williams: Shame, stigma and discrimination. This is a social justice issue. People can’t get jobs. People can’t get insurance. People can’t get to college if they disclose their history of recovery. As a result, we’ve created a society that forces secrecy. A lot of people and their families have internalized that shame. It’s really sad because somebody who wants to get better and stay better is not given opportunities.

RC: What is the most important thing you have learned after making the film?

Williams: History. I didn’t set out to study the history. Understanding the history and how we got to 2014 and where we’ve been. It’s an important lesson learned so that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We have to learn from these things and understand that we have to do something different this time.

About the Author

Shako Liu covers the towns of Litchfield, Warren, Goshen and Morris for The Register Citizen and Litchfield County Times. Reach the author at sliu@registercitizen.com
or follow Shako on Twitter: shako_liu.